Colombia’s agriculture minister, Indalecio Dangond, told farmers on the Caribbean coast to stop planting rice. He made the statement in Urumita, before growers from La Guajira and Cesar who have faced two years of falling prices. Many still await a government response to their request for debt relief.
“Rice is no longer a business. Don’t plant rice, rice is not a business. It is very risky, it needs a lot of water,” Dangond said, according to El Colombiano. Infobae quoted him saying rice prices “are very volatile,” meaning farmers can sow with high hopes and harvest when prices have fallen. He pointed La Guajira growers toward cashew, coconut, oil palm, pomegranate and plantain. “Plant once and think in 25 years,” he said. Rice, by contrast, demands fresh investment every six months.
Dangond serves under President Abelardo de la Espriella. His remarks drew criticism from growers, lawmakers and former president Gustavo Petro.
Who Bears the Loss
The figures behind the minister’s argument about volatility weigh most heavily on the people who grow the crop. In Huila, paddy rice sold for about 230,000 pesos (about US$69) per carga in November 2022, Alci Cortés of the growers’ movement Dignidad Arrocera told Diario del Huila. A carga is 125 kilograms of unmilled rice. The price later fell to 169,500 pesos (about US$51). In late September, it stood near 193,200 pesos (about US$58). Cortés put the break-even price at 208,000 to 209,000 pesos (about US$63).
“We’ve been working at a loss for two years,” Cortés said. He estimated that 60 to 70 percent of growers had lost money. Dearer fertilizer added about 1.2 million pesos (about US$360) to the cost of a hectare in 2026, he said. Currency conversions use 3,312 pesos per U.S. dollar, the 2 October close.
Huila grower Martín Vargas told Caracol Radio that the region has suitable land and mills built for rice. About 2,500 producers there sow some 47,000 hectares each semester, he said.
Lawmakers and Petro Push Back
Julio Roberto Salazar, a Conservative who chairs the lower house farm committee, said producers shouldn’t be told to abandon a strategic crop. Senate vice-president Alejandro Ocampo noted that cashew can take five to seven years to mature. For a family that switches, that means a long stretch without income.
Petro, who left office in August 2026, called the advice “miserable towards the people of Colombia” in a post on X. He argued that cutting cereal output would increase the risk of hunger if devaluation and drought struck together.
Oversight and Unanswered Requests
Fedearroz, the national growers’ federation, said on 29 September that irrigated sowing had fallen about 30 percent as rivers ran low. It asked the ministry to help refinance growers’ debts after low prices in the 2025 and 2026 harvests. The federation also said millers in Casanare raised paddy prices only after about 80 percent of the crop had been sold.
The ministry ordered a forensic-style review of funds managed by the federation, El Colombiano reported. The review covers about 552 billion pesos (about US$167 million) from import auctions and a farm levy over 15 years. Board chair César Augusto Saavedra said the federation was open to any review. He noted that the Comptroller General’s office, the state audit body, already checks the funds yearly.
In Tolima, grower Juan Pablo Rodríguez told Caracol Radio that farmers must rethink their crops before rice imports become duty-free in 2030. Tolima had about 4,870 rice growers in 11 municipalities, according to departmental figures Caracol Radio cited on 4 October 2026. Rice prices in neighboring Ecuador neared US$50 a quintal after a 39% jump. The report warned that fewer plantings, combined with El Niño, could tighten domestic supply in coming harvests.
Whether Dangond’s advice would become policy remained unclear. The ministry had published no plan, and Fedearroz’s refinancing request had received no public answer. Growers in Huila and Tolima sought a round table with the ministry, millers and Fedearroz. No date had been announced.
Why This Matters: Colombian rice growers are absorbing price swings, costlier fertilizer and drought largely on their own. Tens of thousands of livelihoods depend on the crop. In Tolima alone, there are about 4,870 growers. A minister’s public advice to leave rice, with no published transition plan and no public answer on debt refinancing, leaves families with the risk and little support. Cashew takes five to seven years to mature, a costly wait for households without savings. Lower plantings, El Niño and the 2030 duty-free date could also make domestic food supply more fragile. The dispute over audits of federation funds shows why public oversight matters. But growers are still waiting for the round table they requested.